After reading Joshua Reeves’ “Temptation and Its Discontents: Digital Rhetoric, Flow, and the Possible,” I have become more and more intrigued with the idea of controlled flow online and an audiences perceived agency in online interactions.  While audiences tend to feel in control of their clicking choices, I want to delve deeper into the construction and/or limitations within those choices as decided by the composer of the website, and what implications those choices have.

After researching user interaction based on data mining, navigational patterns, and eye-tracking studies, I will complete a small study having users interact with one of two websites. One of the sites will be a “closed” site where any provided links will keep the user on the site, creating loops within the site.  This is perceived agency for the audience and high control for the composer (with few link options that keep them on the page).  The second website will be an “open” site with hyperlinks taking the users from the page.  This website will be provide more agency for the audience and less control for the composer (with more available links taking them away from the page, will they come back?).

Through the use of an analytic program, I plan to gain knowledge as to how much time users will spend on one site compared to the other, as well as to how varying hyperlinks affect the way a user interacts with a site by tracking navigational patterns.  Following the users interaction, I will have them complete a survey in order to gain perspective on user emotion towards the varying sites, likes and dislikes, ease of use, and time spent on each.

The data collected, along with my research, will explore user interaction with websites, and draw conclusions as to how an audience’s agency (actual vs perceived) and the amount of control the composer has over the audience’s navigational path has on the amount of time a user spends on a site and how the user feels about that site.  The research and data will then be presented on a website in the form and style deemed most effective by the analysis.  The primary target audience for theory presentation is academic, but with a conversational tone and online publication it will be accessible to the general public.  Hopefully, this study can contribute to the idea of media flow and provide insight into user interaction with multimodal compositions online.

Project timeline – Gantt Chart:

Annotated Bibliography of Research/Texts Accessed for Project

Theoretical and Scholarly Works

Carnegie, Teena A.M. “Interface as Exordium: The Rhetoric of Interactivity.” Computers and Composition 26.A Thousand Pictures: Interfaces and Composition (2009): 164-173 ScienceDirect. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

This article explores online texts and audiences’ interactions with the interfaces presented to them. There are differing levels of interaction that signify varying levels of control for the user as created by the composer. Carnegie takes care in defining terms for clarity and understanding (such as interface and interactivity). This led me to think carefully about the terms critical to my study and will encourage me to define the terms I choose to use in the final presentation of my project. She also focuses on how these defined terms contribute to or effect persuasion online, which is a critical element in a composer’s choices, and will play a large role in my project. There is a discussion on immersion and flow, which relate to the Reeves article. I do not totally agree with some of the definitions and arguments put forth in this article, but it makes me consider what it is I do think about aspects of interactivity and the role of rhetoric online.

Guerbas, Abdelghani, Omar Addam, Omar Zaarour, Mohamad Nagi, Ahmad Elhajj, Mick Ridley, and Reda Alhajj. “Effective web log mining and online navigational pattern prediction.” Knowledge-Based Systems 49 (2013): 50-62. ScienceDirect. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

Mining techniques are taking the data of users interaction with a site and using that data to the advantage of the creators of that site. This article focuses on data mining: how to do it, problems with sorting the data, getting reliable data, and suggestions on what can be done with the data. Because I plan to run analytics on two websites, this article is informative for me concerning the process, and it provides ideas for analyzing and using the data I retrieve, such as predicting potential future user navigational behaviors and altering future content/presentation.

 Katsanos, Christos, Nikolaos Tselios and Nikolaos Avouris. “Evaluating Website Navigability: Validation of a Tool-Based Approach Through Two Eye-Tracking User Studies.” New Review of Hypermedia & Multimedia 16.1/2 (2010): 195-214. Education Source. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

Concerning the ease of navigability, this text explores user interaction with hyperlinks in texts. The easier it is to understand the link choices presented in a text, the more confident the user. This is referred to as the “information scent,” and is studied through a variety of wordings and placements of links within a website. The study completed exit surveys of the participants, judging their confidence in their choices and the emotional state of their interactions, which gave me the idea to do a similar survey with my experiment. I will utilize this study, not only for scholastic information, but also as a model for the exit survey.

Morgan, Wendy. “Heterotropes: Learning The Rhetoric Of Hyperlinks.” Education, Communication & Information 2.2/3 (2002): 215. Professional Development Collection. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

This article concerns the nature and function of hyperlinks. Hyperlinks can either contribute to meaning or distract the audience from the text; they can create a gap within the information or create a bridge of understanding. Morgan explores varying ways in which links work and how links affect the text as a whole. The text discusses how an author can use links to their advantage, which is specific to the project I embark upon. There are ways in which links are used in “disjointed” ways that add complexity and meaning to the text that I had not considered before, but find interesting, and will now consider as I begin to create and further research the voice and authority through linking.

Velásquez, Juan D. “Combining Eye-Tracking Technologies with Web Usage Mining for Identifying Website Keyobjects.” Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence 26 (2013): 1469-1478. ScienceDirect. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

This text combines data mining and eye-tracking studies to determine keywords and “keyobjects” on websites. While there is useful information about various mining techniques and the different information you glean from each technique, I was hoping to also gain data about the viewing path of the audience. Nevertheless, being new to analytics and data mining, this article provided valuable information about different ways in which to gain the kind of data I am seeking.

Examples and models of effective websites

Amunwa, Jason. “14 Beautiful Content-Heavy Websites for Inspiration.” Digital Telepathy, 14 Nov. 2012. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

This website is a model for a site that is easy to navigate while having lots of content. Even better though, is that this site provides examples of other well-designed sites to peruse, learn from, and model. The example sites contain lots of multimodal elements and links, but with varying formats and design choices. The main site contains a list following each example of what works and why it is well designed. There are also tips to apply to creating a well-designed site of your own. I assume my final website submission will be content heavy, so I chose this site in order to analyze presentations I like and may want to try out, as well as presentations I do not like and will not be trying.

“Design Inspiration: Featuring the Best of Web Design.” The Best Designs. The Best Designs, 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

This website is amazing. It is called “The Best Designs,” and it contains some of the best website designs I have ever seen. Most of the sites are self-contained, or “closed” with few external links (which is what I think my final website will be). The sites are interesting, engaging, and beautiful. They inspire. I can only hope my site is half as good as these examples.

Notes:

While I thought to include Reeves article in the Annotated Bibliography, I sought to find new research to contribute to my project.  I will however be using “Temptation and Its Discontents: Digital Rhetoric, Flow, and the Possible,” as part of my project.

Also, I want to base the final presentation off of my research and data collection, much as Humphrey and Sousanis did with comics.  In my search for models I was unable to find something suitable to emulate.  I will continue looking.  In the meantime, I tried to find examples of well developed and designed websites (specifically with high content and minimal outside links) in which I could study and learn from.